Kingdom Holding fails to reach deal for Zain's stake in Saudi operations
Company did not get a reply from Kuwait firm for its offer
Beirut: Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding yesterday said its offer to buy Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications or Zain's stake in its Saudi operations has expired after it failed to reach a deal.
Kingdom Holding said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website that it did not receive any reply from Zain's board of directors regarding its offer, despite twice extending the offer period to February 16.
The company, run by billionaire Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal, initially said the offer would be valid until February 6, after announcing on January 31 it had made a non-binding offer to buy a 25 per cent stake in Zain's Saudi operations, subject to obtaining regulatory approval and satisfactory due diligence.
Zain is seeking to sell the stake in its Saudi unit as part of a larger $11.7 billion (Dh42.9 billion) transaction under which Emirates Telecommunications Corporation or etisalat, will buy a 46 per cent stake in Zain.
Zain and etisalat both operate in the Saudi market, an issue that might concern the local regulator.
Other offers
The Kuwaiti telco had received two other offers, besides Kingdom's, to buy its stake in its Zain Saudi operations.
The offers were from a Saudi consortium led by Al Riyadh Group and Bahrain Telecommunications, or Batelco.
Kingdom shares yesterday were limit down 9.8 per cent at 9.20 riyals and Zain KSA dropped 4.3 per cent to 7.75 riyals in a broadly negative Tadawul market at 0929 GMT.
Meanwhile, three Zain executives have submitted their resignations, Al Arabiya television reported yesterday, without saying how it got the information.
The three include Chief Operating Officer Barrak Sabeeh and Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer Haitham Al Khaled, the station said.
